It's almost like getting two books in one! A humorous one and a tragic one. Here's how it works. The fictional author of a novel, American Mermaid, is hired by Hollywood to write the screenplay. Hollywood wants to sex it up and put in more action. Can Penny save her story from the Hollywood machine? This is the fun part of the novel.

Intertwined with that is the dystopian story, American Mermaid, where a billionaire has the knowhow to speed up climate change and plans to use it in such a way that only billionaires survive--and they must pay him for their survival. Only one person (?) stands in his way--his adopted mermaid daughter.

Science fiction plus humor. Comedy plus tragedy. Parts of the book had me laughing out loud and parts had me feeling sad for the mutilated mermaid and her compromised doctor. Even though the two-story lines share space between the covers of American Mermaid, it's never confusing as to what's what. In fact, it's quite clever.

Science fiction, comedy, dystopian, and the perils of being an ingenue in La La Land. What a fun ride!

Thanks to Netgalley and Doubleday for allowing me to read and review an eARC of American Mermaid.

I've never read a book quite like this - which makes it that much more difficult to describe. The novel is essentially a story inside a story; in "reality", we follow the perspective of Penelope Schleeman, a high school teacher in Connecticut struggling to make ends meet. She spends her free time writing a novel that is eventually published under the title of "American Mermaid", and to her surprise, it sells exceedingly well and catches the eyes of a team of screenwriters in Hollywood that reach out to her to turn it into a movie. With the help of a newly acquired agent, Penelope agrees to do so, quits her job, and moves out to LA to work on the future production.

Interspersed across Penelope's story are passages from her novel, telling the story of young Sylvia, a wheelchair-bound woman who discovers as an adult that she's actually a mermaid, and uses her science background to champion ecological preservation. (Honestly, I loved the glimpses into this novel that we did get, and would have loved to read a full-blown novel focused solely on Sylvia.) However, Penelope finds that working in Hollywood is far from glamorous, and watches as her story gets completely twisted and transformed into a completely different creation to appease the masses. As time goes on, she begins to wonder if her creation has come to life to get revenge on her...

For a debut novel, Langbein has crafted a witty, tongue-in-cheek satire that calls out the ridiculousness of media today, while also calling out present day issues faced by women in society today. While I didn't love some of the inclusions she made (long-winded emails or text conversations between Penelope and her screenwriters, long conversations about script changes, etc.), I think the overall story framework and concept was well-written and framed. She was able to take on different writing styles and tones going between the two different stories, and tied both of them together at the end.

Rather long and drawn out and felt like there was no real story. I made it through 33% of the novel before I stopped and read the last three chapters. The sections with the mermaid story were good. It just got tiring to read through the rest.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This novel is easy to read and quick to get lost in.

I selected this book because of the cover. A hand-drawn mermaid’s tail superimposed over a photo-realistic image of a California beach town with the title scribbled above suggested a story that didn’t take itself seriously. The title suggested American sensibilities blended with nautical folklore. The packaging delivered on its promise, but the novel had so much more.

I was immediately hooked by the witty voice of the narrator, Penny; Langbien’s eccentric humor; and the whirlwind plot. I noticed I was often reading with a smile on my face as zany one-liners, silly metaphors, and whacky descriptions cruised through the zippy narrative. There were times I laughed out loud. But it’s written by a woman who began her professional life in New York City’s stand-up comedy scene, so of course it’s funny—and smart and unexpected and twisty and tender. I mean, Penny, an aspiring novelist, writes a story about a mermaid who’s afraid to drown. How clever is that?

Told in first person, Penny “works lawyer hours for babysitter money,” while she writes American Mermaid. Her debut novel gains traction when an influencer posts about it and it becomes an instant bestseller. Penny’s an average looking high school English teacher who leaves her teaching job in New Haven, Connecticut, and moves to LA. As her novel is turned into an action film, she’s hilariously insecure as she finds she’s not as attractive as the Hollywood set.

As a female on land, I related to both Penny and the mermaid, and I kept turning pages to find out what was going to happen. If you like humorous feminist fiction like Bonnie Garmus’s 2022 debut “Lessons in Chemistry” you’ll like this contemporary version of a mermaid’s Hollywood tale.

Thank you NetGalley and Doubleday Books for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

#AmericanMermaid #ladyplots

American Mermaid is a cynical and illuminating take on entertainment culture, feminism, climate change, storytelling, and writing. Sometimes funny and often horrifying, it's a roller-coaster ride of narrative form and expectations, odd and expressive in unforeseen ways. The book's disjointedness is deliberate, and some may like it, or see it as rebelling against craft. I'm all for rebelling against craft. That said: did I like it? Not really; would I recommend it to others, probably. I think it's a great book for writers to read, especially new writers.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

The opinion: This book felt like I was in a room with terribly smart, funny people and I was only getting about 30% of the conversation. I had to DNF at 46% [27 chapters was enough]. It was really well written, but it wasn't written for me. I'd recommend it for people who read P.G. Wodehouse and watch Seinfeld. Or The Office. None of which I enjoyed either. I read it for WEEKS and I just couldn't get through it, so I'm done.

Beautiful cover, completely bonkers book.

Penny is a former school teacher who has come to Hollywood to help write the screenplay for her smash hit book about a feminist mermaid. This is a good one to know very little about before you start reading so you can enjoy the experience.

Such a witty and clever debut! I laughed out loud many times and thoroughly enjoyed it. Thank you to NetGalley for an early copy.

A wild ride. A unique premise and razor sharp prose. This book is nothing like anything I’ve read before.

Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for an opportunity with this title. I found a lot to enjoy in this, a fun concept brought forward in meaningful ways to the characters. The mystery holds you with a compelling premise and solid follow through.

i really wanted to love this book. it started out super fun and thrilling and then i just got kinda bored. i am so thankful to netgalley for letting me read this early!!

American Mermaid is a unique story a book full of heart.I was drawn in from the first pages a book that had me laughing out loud a story that will charm you,.Blends many genres in to one five star read.#netgalley #doubledaybooks.

Penelope is an author that has found herself struggling to maintain the authenticity of her book and strong female lead. With a movie option in the works, her main character becomes picked apart, and Hollywood execs call for a younger, sexier version of her strong eco-warrior mermaid. As the real world begins to mirror her fictional world, Penelope must figure out how to remain authentic in this ruthless industry.

Overall, an enjoyable read. The beginning started a bit shaky for me, but I was one hundred percent invested in the story.
Unfortunately, I do believe I hyped this book up too much in my head, so I already had a bias when starting this novel. But surprisingly enough, I wasn’t let down.

The publisher provided ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Penelope aka Penny is a high school English teacher in Connecticut who happened to write a best selling novel, which Hollywood has decided to turn into a movie. So Penny does what anyone would do, quit her job & moved to LA to make it big. But things are more difficult than they seem & she’s struggling to figure it all out…

Ok so my first thought when I finally managed to finish this book was what the hell did I just read. For starters, it’s kind of a book within a book, so every few chapters it’s an excerpt from Penny’s novel American Mermaid and then it goes back to Penny’s story. The breakup between the two is done well enough where the reader doesn’t get confused but I’m still not fully sure if the excerpt chapters were a good way to go.

As for Penny’s part of the story, I was super confused for a lot of it & also found Penny’s inner monologue to be a bit annoying. She came off as super whiny & extremely immature. The whole taking ecstasy with teenagers thing definitely made me like her even less. As far as book heroines go, she wasn’t really all that heroic in my opinion.

Thank you #NetGalley & Doubleday Books for providing me with an ARC of #AmericanMermaid for my honest review

American Mermaid is a perfect beach read - in every way. Romance, intrigue, great characters, and the mermaids, natch. Penny, who teaches high school English for near-poverty wages, has written a novel called American Mermaid on the side. The main character, Sylvie, was raised by scientist parents and a caring doctor to be a seemingly disabled teenager, unaware of her aquatic powers until she uncovers a global conspiracy to drown the world for profit. Penny soon finds her novel blowing up on social media - and Hollywood knocking on her door. Seduced by the glamour (and especially the money), Penny agrees to help with a script to film Sylvie's story. Little does she know what the script doctor bros from Hollywood have in store. As Penny struggles to maintain her character's independence and female power, the events of her novel come alive in her own life. What is real? What is power? How do we resist the seduction and oppression of patriarchy and capitalism in our own lives?

This might sound like a downer sermon of a book, but Langbein's writing is absolutely delightful. The prose zips along like a summer breeze that hides the depths of the sea beneath. Penny's quirkly foibles are contrasted with her slacker coworker, her power-driven agent, her stoner cowriters, and the teens who mentor her. The text of Penny's novel is also sprinkled throughout the book, showing another alternate story of a woman embracing her power in the face of domination. Highly recommended as a compelling and fun read that carries a vital message in our 21st century world.

Basically, this book had me at "mermaid," though to be honest the mermaid part is only half of this story (it serves as a book within the book.) Overall, I appreciated the way the author juggled the two halves, even if it didn't always stick the landing for me personally, (sometimes the tonal shifts between the two were jarring.)

The book within the book is called "American Mermaid" and it is thought provoking, something you might want to read on its own (you kinda get the gist of it here, though.) But don't become too attached to that story, the other half of this book concerns the author's adventures in getting American Mermaid made into a movie. THAT part of this book is entirely different in tone. Often snarky and fun, with some interesting things to say about the Hollywood machine.

This book soars when these two halves of the story rub against each other, (like when the story within the story mentions the atomic bomb, then quickly switches to a chapter where screenwriters talk about needing to cut it from the movie cause it's a bummer.) There are parallels and connections between the two halves of the story throughout the book, which I dug, but also references to one story bleeding into the other, (which I dug less.)

Toward the end, this book starts getting a little crazy (the Hollywood part) and I wasn't necessarily feeling those narrative choices. But there's no denying that this is an intriguing story and a cool idea with some great quotes, (a favorite... "Do not go to war with women in a state of becoming. Their dark arts are deep and indomitable."

Hell yeah. Thanks to the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

What in the what did I just read? This book is a unique and wild ride...

This book is about a teacher who writes a sucessful novel and then moves to L.A. to get it optioned off for a movie. This follows her on her journey as it get's written into a script, the interesting people she meets along the way, and her questionable mental health.

I enjoyed the story in the story aspect of this book. Getting to actually read American Mermaid while reading American Mermaid was fun and I kind of wish that would have been the book instead. I found both parts of the story interesting, however the book felt....wordy? I'm not sure how to describe it, but it felt challanging to read at times. I'm so conflicted because I found myself actually laughing at Penny and wanting to see what happens with her, but a lot of it felt too much. Like the party with the rats.

I do know that I will be reading Julia Langbein's next work. I enjoyed the writing and she is very funny.

Thank you to Doubleday Books and Netgalley for the chance to review this in exchange for a review. American Mermaid comes out in March 21st 2023!

'American Mermaid' may be a silly title for a book, but don't judge this book by its title. From the first chapter, the darkly comedic tone hooks you right into the central character and her journey from school teacher to successful author, and then to Hollywood screenwriter(ish). Having worked as a film director and writer, the softly-satirical world of filmmaking into which Penny is thrust felt all too real. As the book moves between the "real" world and excerpts of Penny's novel, sometimes blurring the lines between 'fact' and fiction, I found the book lost steam. Maybe it's just that I'm not a huge fan of fantasy, so the excerpts weren't as compelling. But in any event, with this ambitious debut, Langbein proves she's going to be a literary force, should it find its audience.

American Mermaid by Julia Langbein is a fun, smart read! It's told in alternating stories, one being a novel within a novel, the other being the "real-life" story of the novelist. The novel within is a feminist fantasy about a mermaid found and adopted by a wealthy American family. The mermaid character's defining characteristics are being intellectually brilliant and asexual. The novel echoes the life of the author, a messy, under-achieving, cynical high school English teacher, who embarks on a hilarious sojurn in Hollywood after selling the movie rights to her novel. The contemporary story is a funny satire of Hollywood and the "girl boss" mythos. The novel within is intriguing if somewhat clunky. I recommend this to anyone looking for an entertaining read with a feminist edge.

Plot: 4
Characters: 4
Writing Style: 5
Cover: 4
Enjoyment: First half = 5 // Latter = 3
Buyable/Re-readable?: Not for me.

3.5 ⭐ This book will NOT be for everyone.

As I didn't read the full synopsis, the book wasn't what I thought it would be, and therefore, I at first didn’t know the excerpt hinted at the fiction bleeding into reality - I wonder how differently this would have read for me, had I known going in, heh. It was fun at first; I like the whole book-within-a-book method, but there came a point where the humor dropped off and the 'wtf-ery' kicked in.

Example: Part III - Drowning - I flat out do not understand why the main character did what she did here. It pulled me out of book rather alarmingly, leaving me feeling disconnected, weird, etc I never figured out the motive for getting with these kids and the scenes afterward. And honestly it was at Part III that the book began to lose me. I was bewildered enough about the ending to contact another reviewer of the book, but they didn't even remember the ending ("which probably says something"), so. Alas. And was she asexual or not, because representation would have been cool.

That the author is a stand-up comedian makes loads of sense, as the first half or more was utterly hilarious. I'd giggle or laugh aloud and often want to share those parts with my husband. I learnt some new words and new peoples! We get first person POV from the main character and third person for the book excerpts.

Petty small thing - I don't care for the name choices. I felt that they were too bland for mermaids, however, they were also neat, using typically male given ones for female characters, and kind of neat they take names of sperm fathers? but...isn't that also playing into the patriarchy and aren't we fighting that same thing in this novel?

To be somewhat lazy, these fellow readers sum it up fairly well -

Natalie - “This is a complex and unusual novel.” Very much so.
Amy - “Truthfully, there's so much in this book, I feel I should read it a few more times to really digest all the ins and outs of it thoroughly.” Y U U P, same.
Jenn - “At times the writing was a little wordy but seeing that the main character is a writer, it makes sense.” - Agreed, sometimes too Big Brain for me.
Jennifer - “I'm sure that someone will read this and make literary connections that I missed or something to do with gender identity and the relationship between Penny and Sylvia. But for me, I was reading this for the story and not for it to be a major social commentary.” Right, went into it expecting one thing, came out wonder wtf did I just read? Heh.

Ok in all honesty, I chose this book because of the title and cover! I don’t know what I expected, but I did enjoy it! Different style, but worth a read!